Apple announced that it successfully prevented over $2 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions and rejected 1.7 million app submissions for privacy and security violations in 2022. The company terminated 428,000 developer accounts, blocked 105,000 fake developer account creations, and deactivated 282 million bogus customer accounts.
Apple also highlighted its ability to detect and block untrustworthy apps from unauthorized marketplaces and flagged apps with malicious code or privacy violations. In total, Apple reviewed 6.1 million app submissions, rejecting over 153,000 for being spam, copycats, or containing hidden features. The disclosure comes amid speculations about Apple enabling sideloading and allowing third-party app stores to comply with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act.
In addition to its success in preventing fraudulent transactions and app submissions, Apple intercepted over 147 million fraudulent ratings and reviews in the App Store in 2022. It also blocked close to 3.9 million attempts to install or launch apps distributed illicitly through its Developer Enterprise Program.
Furthermore, Apple blocked nearly 3.9 million stolen credit cards from being used for fraudulent purchases and banned 714,000 accounts from transacting again. These efforts resulted in the blocking of $2.09 billion in fraudulent transactions on the App Store in 2022.
Apple’s disclosure follows a similar report from Google, which dismantled 173,000 bad accounts and blocked 1.43 million harmful apps from being published to the Play Store in 2022, preventing over $2 billion in fraudulent and abusive transactions.
Despite these ongoing efforts by Apple and Google, threat actors continue to find ways to bypass security protections and publish malicious apps on official app stores.
Apple stated that it gathers feedback from various sources and remains committed to developing new approaches and tools to prevent fraud and protect App Store users and developers.
